New wrinkles in hypnosis investigation

Thursday

Jun 16, 2011 at 12:01 AM

By JOHN DAVIS and DALE WHITE Staff Writers

Police detectives have seized computers and video equipment from the office of North Port High School Principal George Kenney as they investigate whether Kenney's use of hypnosis on students broke an obscure Florida law.

As their investigation unfolds, it has become clear that Kenney's use of hypnosis was more frequent and widespread than first thought.

North Port Police Detective Jason Richter interviewed all-star basketball player Kasey Wilson, who said Kenney hypnotized him 30 to 40 times to improve his concentration.

The police investigation also revealed that sometime during the past school year, Kenney told the school resource officer, Floyd Davidson, that Davidson had a mild form of Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder, and offered hypnosis as treatment. Davidson declined, the search warrant documents state; the officer would not comment Wednesday.

Kenney's secretary, Dianna McLaren, told investigators that, on average, Kenney hypnotized two students per day over a three-year period. She said he began hypnotizing students three years ago after attending a weeklong training course.

The criminal inquiry began when state Department of Health officials contacted police after receiving a complaint that Kenney may have broken a 1961 Florida law. That law bars the use of hypnosis for therapeutic reasons except by or under the monitoring of a licensed medical professional.

The Sarasota County School Board placed Kenney on administrative leave May 17 after learning that the popular principal had hypnotized numerous students at the school to assist them with test preparation and concentration or to improve sports performance.

Kenney, 51, has acknowledged hypnotizing students and athletes in his office and other places on campus, and says that students always had parental permission. He declined further comment on Wednesday.

A school administrator reportedly told police that Kenney knowingly violated instructions to restrict his hypnosis sessions to psychology classes or "off campus."

The hypnosis sessions came to light after he hypnotized Wesley McKinley, a student at the school who committed suicide in April. McKinley reportedly underwent three sessions.

Parent Gina Dykeman said Monday that Kenney had hypnotized her daughter and other students without parental consent.

"This is not going away, people," Gina Dykeman told the City Commission on Monday. "This is very serious, and this should not be going on."

North Port police invoked a search warrant at Kenney's office last week, seizing two laptop computers, several CDs, a video camera, written phone messages, a computer thumb drive with Kenney's calendar, an iPod, a cassette player, a cassette tape and books from a hypnosis training center.

In Florida, it is against the law to practice hypnotism for therapeutic purposes without having some type of medical license or working under the supervision of someone with a medical license.

That does not mean hypnosis can only be practiced by doctors. But it does require that hypnosis done as therapy be performed or monitored by any person licensed to practice a "medical art," including audiologists and social workers. Hypnosis for entertainment purposes does not carry licensure requirements.

"That's what we're doing right now, to see whether he did anything wrong," North Port Police Capt. Robert Estrada said Wednesday.

A national hypnosis expert said it seems unlikely the state can prove Kenney used hypnosis in a therapeutic way. Dr. Dwight Damon, president of the New Hampshire-based National Guild of Hypnotists, of which Kenney is a member, thinks Kenney did not violate Florida law.

"I would say what he was doing was not therapeutic but motivational, and within the realm of a teacher," Damon said. "If you are giving a positive suggestion and motivating a young person, I think that's good."

According to the guild's legal guide, several states restrict hypnosis for "therapeutic purposes" to licensed health care professionals.

Florida passed its law in 1961, the same year that the American Psychiatric Association approved hypnosis as a means of therapy.

The guild has repeatedly asked Florida health authorities what the law means by "therapeutic," Damon said. "The state has never given us a definition."

Breaking the hypnosis law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

There may not be much, if any, precedent for how the state law should be interpreted.

Jessica Hammonds, press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, said she believes the department has rarely called for law enforcement to investigate hypnotists for alleged violations of the law.

The school district had not, as of Wednesday, received any notification of a lawsuit stemming from Kenney's behavior. Board spokesman Scott Ferguson said state prosecutors are reviewing the district's internal investigation. The district had no comment on the criminal inquiry, and hasn't made a final decision about Kenney's job.

Wilson, the basketball player who was hypnotized by Kenney, was one of the most highly touted athletes to come out of North Port High. He is now on an athletic scholarship at the University of Central Florida. He was hypnotized by Kenney dozens of times, with his parents' blessing.

Last year, Wilson credited the sessions with helping him concentrate. "He helped me a lot mentally," Wilson told the Herald-Tribune. "That's opened my mind for being taught by Coach Allen on how to do more things."

Coach Curt Allen said Wednesday the district had forbidden him from speaking about the Kenney case.

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